Dreadlock Holiday

Learn how to play Dreadlock Holiday on one guitar!

The song has been adapted into a one guitar arrangement by using a capo on fret three. This way you can play as if in Em, using open strings and chords in combination with bass lines. This is very similar to how ‘I Shot The Sheriff‘ was arranged.

In the video lesson, you’ll see how to play all the chords for ‘Dreadlock Holiday’, including the key change.

Chord progression (capo fret three)

These are the chords for ‘Dreadlock Holiday’ as if played with a capo on fret three.

Intro

| Em D | C | x2
| Em | Am Am7 | x4

Verse/bridge

| Em | Am | repeat
| Em D | Am | x2

Chorus

| Em D | C | Am Bm7 | C D | x2

Chorus tag

| G | x4
| Em D | Am Am7 | x2

Verse/bridge after key change

| Em | Am(7) | repeat
| Em D | C | x2

Outro chorus

| Em D | Am Am7 | repeat

Adjust the capo up or down the neck to find what key suits your singer.

In this video lesson, you’ll see a close up of the strumming hand. In the course, we use this as well as full TAB to learn the song, just like it’s played in the video.

Original key – Chords without a capo

Dealing with key changes a semitone up is always gonna be awkward for a guitarist. The Glider Capo might be the only real practical solution to this problem.

Without a capo, these are the chords. You will need to barre almost every chord.

Intro

| Gm F | Eb | x2
| Gm | Cm Cm7 | x4

Verse/bridge

| Gm | Cm | repeat
| Gm F | Cm | x2

Chorus

| Gm F | Eb | Cm Dm7 | Eb F | x2

Chorus tag

| Bb | x4
| Gm F | Cm Cm7 | x2

Verse/bridge after key change

| G#m | C#m(7) | repeat
| G#m F# | E | x2

Chorus after key change

| G#m F# | E | C#m D#m7 | E F# | x2

Chorus tag after key change

| B | x4
| G#m F# | C#m C#m7 | repeat

Capo or no capo, if you understand a chord progression as numbers, you can easily create licks and build second guitar parts using whatever suitable scale and chord shapes. It doesn’t even matter what key you’re playing in.